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Last night’s 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad wasn’t particularly surprising, yet it still left a bitter taste in the mouths of all West Ham fans.
Having been turned over by Nottingham Forest last weekend, all we really wanted to see against City was a bit of fight and passion from the players. We wanted to see some commitment from them. We wanted to see them try at least.
Instead it was yet another gutless performance that resulted in yet another thrashing, and now the patience has completely run out amongst all of us who pay good money to watch our beloved football club week in, week out, only to be left disappointed and upset with the way things are currently going.
I was fortunate enough to have watched yesterday’s Capital One Cup semi-final first leg from the comfort of the Chairman’s Lounge at the Etihad – a very generous gift from FootballFanCast.com and Capital One.
As a result, fellow West Ham fan and colleague of mine Brad Pinard and I were presented with a golden opportunity to confront Chairman David Sullivan directly after the final whistle to ask him questions that we are all craving the answers for. Why won’t he and David Gold sack Sam Allardyce? What’s happening with the Lacina Traore deal? What the HELL is going on!?
We could only get a couple of minutes with him before he walked off, but he did answer our questions, which deserves a lot of respect. He could have easily told us to go away and not to bother him, particularly after another devastating performance.
But here’s what we did get out of him…
West Ham World: David, doesn’t that result prove to you that the time has come to sack Sam?
David Sullivan: I really don’t know the answer. It’s £4million to sack him now, nothing if we get relegated. No compensation at all if we go down.
WHW: This isn’t about money any more. We need some stability.
DS: It is because we haven’t got it. We just haven”t got it. We need our centre-halves back and then I think we’ll be ok.
WHW: But this is looking like Avram Grant all over again. If we lose on Saturday then surely you’ll realise he has to go?
DS: [holds hands up] I really, really don’t know. Who would you have as the manager then?
WHW: I’d get Malkay [Mackay] in straight away.
DS: But Cardiff have only got three points more than us and have spent about £30million.
WHW: But Cardiff’s squad isn’t as good as ours. We’re better than Cardiff. What’s the deal with [Lacina] Traore then?
DS: Traore is nearly signed. No [he won’t be signed by Saturday], the work permit application isn’t until Monday and there’s still only a 50/50 chance of that being successful because he hasn’t played any internationals.
WHW: David, all we’re saying to you is that we trust you as our club’s owner to put things right. We’re getting bored of losing every week. It’s hard. We pay our hard earned money to go and watch us here, there and every where and it’s just getting boring.
DS: How do you think we feel? If we go down we cannot afford to subsidise the club any longer.
WHW: Well get rid of Sam then, if that’s the case.
DS: Believe you me, getting rid of Sam does not guarantee we will stay up.
WHW: In my honest opinion it gives us a better chance. We will have more of a chance staying up if we don’t have Sam Allardyce in charge. It’s just not working anymore.
DS: Possibly, I just don’t know. I just don’t think Malky Mackay is necessarily the answer.
WHW: Thanks, David. I massively respect you for taking the time out to speak to us this evening. Thank you.
So Sullivan openly admitted that he doesn’t particularly know the answer, but refused to admit that sacking Allardyce would improve our chances of Premier League survival. What we do know is that, if we are relegated, the club will be in huge trouble financially.
What do you think about Sullivan’s comments? Do you think he should just bite the bullet and replace Allardyce? Or do you think he has a point about Malky Mackay? Leave your thoughts below.
